2014 PHAP application

[act123]

Anyone applied and heard anything?

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[wanderlust-adventures]

The most I've heard is when I received an e-mail 2 days ago that said my application status had been updated to "Received" but that's it. Anyone else have any news?

 

[blalli]

I got an email today saying I had a rating of 98.

 

[publichealthowl]

I got an email this morning giving my rating of 98

 

[act123]

Thanks guys!

 

[dandelion0624]

Also got an email with a rating. Glad to see a thread on here for this year as well!

 

[Violet222]

Is anyone familiar with this process? Do they send you an email either way or only if you are referred on?

 

[publichealthowl]

I'm not sure, but I think they only email for referals. I'd suggest looking through the thread from last year; it helped me get a better understanding of the time line and the communications.

 

[Akmush]

The most I've heard is when I received an e-mail 2 days ago that said my application status had been updated to "Received" but that's it. Anyone else have any news?

I got an email this morning with my score. I got a 95. I wonder what the cutoff will be for those who progress to the next round of the application.

 

[Saosei]

I also received a rating this morning of a 95! hoping to hear back from them soon!!

 

[grapes504]

Last year I received the referral letter from USAjobs on March 13th and on March 14th I received an email from PHAP/CDC saying you made it past the initial phase and that I had 1 week to submit my contact information, a program survey (including listing your geographical preferences) and a personal statement. It was either the end of April or beginning of May I was contacted by email to schedule the final interview and on May 20th I had the phone interview (some people get phone interviews and some get face-to-face).

Last year my rating was a 95, this year it is a 98. The field of people applying is competitive; last year just under 4,000 people applied, 500 had final interviews and there were something like 130-140 openings.

 

[act123]

Does everyone get ratings?

 

[grapes504]

Does everyone get ratings?

Yes, it is in your NOR (Notice of Results from USAjobs)

Spec Code: Spec Title: Grade: Rating:

001 Public Health Advisor 05 98

The next email we'll all receive from USAjobs is a Referral Letter Vacancy, when the status of your application will change you'll either be Referred or not referred. Referred will submit their contact info, survey (geographical preferences) and personal statement.

 

[Saosei]

What exactly is considered a good rating ?

 

[grapes504]

What exactly is considered a good rating ?

If I remember right, last year the field was narrowed from ~4,000 applicants and ~1,500 were referred and asked to provide personal statements, etc. Ratings go up to 110 because veterans have a 5-point or 10-point preference, so a good rating, or a rating that will get someone referred is relative. It depends upon how many people have a rating higher than where you stand and how many candidates the CDC is wanting to push on to the next segment.

 

[publichealthowl]

Last year no one with a rating of less than 90 moved on

 

[fromthedessert]

My grading simply says "EL" what does that mean?

 

[fromthedessert]

It reads:

Spec Code: Spec Title: Grade: Rating:

001 Public Health Advisor 05 EL

with no number in the place of EL..

and then it says:

Rating Code: Rating Message:
EL You are eligible for this specialty and grade

 

[dandelion0624]

It reads:

Spec Code: Spec Title: Grade: Rating:

001 Public Health Advisor 05 EL

with no number in the place of EL..

and then it says:

Rating Code: Rating Message:
EL You are eligible for this specialty and grade

Got an EL too! Based on last year's thread, I think this means we may get referred to BE and get an invitation to the second application. GOOD LUCK!

 

[dandelion0624]

HR. Not be lol. Weird autocorrect

 

[fromthedessert]

Did anyone else get EL? Whats the difference between that and everyone else on the thread getting numbers between 80-100??

 

[dandelion0624]

I got a 93 and then the EL. However, since the numbers are based on your own self assessment of your skills, not sure how much they go by that. Who knows.

 

[publichealthowl]

I got an EL too! Good luck in the next round everyone

 

[publichealthowl]

I think everyone gets a rating number then only the applicants moving on get the el email

 

[fromthedessert]

I think everyone gets a rating number then only the applicants moving on get the el email

That's so weird because i NEVER got a rating number. This email with the EL was the only email I got and it still didn't have a number....oh well!

 

[publichealthowl]

Does anyone know how many people applied this year?

 

[grapes504]

i got the eligible email too but don't think anyone has moved on yet. In other job postings you can be eligible and still not be referred. There is a rating (based on self-assessment, has not been reviewed or confirmed by HR) this is the # and the EL and then there is a status code that is released after HR reviews and confirms and this is the Referred or Not Referred.

This was last years...

Referral Letter Vacancy ID: 828298

Vacancy ID: 828298 [email protected]
3/13/13

to me

HHS CDC CENTER

1600 CLIFTON RD

ATLANTA GA 30333

Dear

This refers to the application you recently submitted to this office for the position below:

Position Title: Public Health Advisor-CDC Public Health Associate Program for Recent Graduates

Vacancy ID: 828298

Announcement: HHS-CDC-RGP-PHAP-13-828298

Pay Plan: GS

Series/Grade:

0685-05

Hiring Office: All CDC

______________________________
_______________________________

Spec Code: 001

Spec Title: Public Health Advisor

Grade: 05

Rating: EL

-----------------------------------------------------------

Referral Type: Open to all qualified candidates

Referral Name: AJV-13-NPS-01543S0

Status: R - Referred

Vet Pref: NV (Clm)

Locations:

Location Negotiable After Sele

_____________________________________________________________



Status Code: Status Message:

R - Referred We have reviewed your application and found you qualified for the position listed above that have this

Status code. We have referred your name to the selecting official(s) for consideration, and they will

contact you if an interview is needed.

Rating Code: Rating Message:

EL You are eligible for this specialty and grade.

 

[sodwn2earth]

I have also applied and received my NOR with a score of 90. Doesn't seem very competitive at this point but we'll see. My experience and education should boost my rating a bit when it's reviewed by a staff specialist. Congrats to everyone that has been referred so far!

 

[publichealthowl]

Thanks for sharing! That makes a lot more sense.

 

[karenmph]

I got a notification today that my status had been updated. I logged into the usajobs website and my status was updated from "Received" to "Reviewed." According to the usajobs website "reviewed" means that the "application “package” has been reviewed by the agency human resources office, but no determination of qualification has been made at this time."

Not exactly sure where that puts me-- i guess they're still deciding if they want to pass me to the next round lol anyone recived anything like this?

 

[publichealthowl]

I got the same thing this morning

 

[dandelion0624]

I got the same message too. Seems like we got emails about every two days. Feb 24 and 26. Hopefully another one today

 

[publichealthowl]

I just tweeted Tom Friedan from CDC and he said there were about 2,600 applicants this year. Much better for us than the 4,000 last year!

 

[dandelion0624]

I just tweeted Tom Friedan from CDC and he said there were about 2,600 applicants this year. Much better for us than the 4,000 last year!

Still a lot but much better for us lol. I wonder why there are less applicants this year. Anyone hear anything new??

 

[publichealthowl]

Nope They extended the host deadline so they are probably waiting to nail down how many spots they have. This wait is killing me!

 

[dandelion0624]

Nope They extended the host deadline so they are probably waiting to nail down how many spots they have. This wait is killing me!

Me too!

 

[sodwn2earth]

If there are less host sites than there were last year, that would still cut quite a few of us out of the running. I hate to think about it....

 

[missm472]

I applied last year and was offered a site, but unfortunately, I had to decline. I didn't apply this year because I got a job.

 

[sodwn2earth]

Hey guys,

I just found a document online that gives the number of potential PHAP slots. This may change depending on the host sites and their need for associates. Coupled with the previous knowledge of 2,600 applicants, we can get an idea of what our odds may be. Good luck everyone!

http://public.health.oregon.gov/Hea..._Newsletters/Update Attachments/2014/PHAP.pdf

 

[sodwn2earth]

I applied last year and was offered a site, but I declined. I didn't apply this year because I got a job. Last year they had a lot of declines, then they started offering random locations at the last minute (ex. move from new york to california with a week or less notice starting people out at 32-35K). I also contacted some people that had completed the program previously and none of them were offered jobs at cdc, so it is not a guaranteed foot in the door :-/ College and masters graduates were competing against veterinarians, post-docs...it was kinda ridiculous.

That's what I gathered from reading posts from previous years. I'm not sure what the minimum qualifications are as far as experience goes. The fellowship is for entry-level public health professionals with little to no experience but it seems that the more experience you have, the more likely you are to be selected which seems backwards. So you're a vet to this whole process, do you have any advice or tips that you would like to share with us going in that hasn't been mentioned already in previous threads? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[neellio]

Hi all, I'm applying again this year after making it to the interview round last time. Last year I had an initial rating of 95, but I had just graduated with my BS so I think I got overshadowed by people with more experience in the interview process. This year, after joining Community HealthCorps, I have a 98.
I don't know if I have much advice for getting through the referral/essay process, but in terms of the interview -I would highly recommend taking an in person interview if at all possible. Last year they interviewed me over the phone, even though I was perfectly willing to travel (which I expressed a few times), and I don't think it went as well as an in person discussion would have.

Even so, my interviewer told me last year that just to make it to the interview stage you had to be in the top 5% of applicants. If they hire 166 new associates this year, they're taking the top 7% of applicants. Better chances this year at least! Good luck to us everyone!

 

[dee1987]

I applied last year too glad to see that I am not the only one giving it another go!!

Since last year I got a temp. opportunity with the VA in Los Angeles now I am doing a fellowship this year the have a longer timeline I noticed! And my interviewer last year said that it was great to even get to that point! I got a lower rating this yr though I don't know why and I haven't heard anything other than my status being changed to eligible. Has anyone heard anything

 

[dee1987]

I applied last year too glad to see that I am not the only one giving it another go!!

Since last year I got a temp. opportunity with the VA in Los Angeles now I am doing a fellowship this year the have a longer timeline I noticed! And my interviewer last year said that it was great to even get to that point! I got a lower rating this yr though I don't know why and I haven't heard anything other than my status being changed to eligible. Has anyone heard anything

 

[publichealthowl]

I haven't heard anything singe I got the eligible notice

 

[Violet222]

I also have not heard anything since the eligible notice on Feb 26th. Hopefully we'll hear something by the end of the week!

 

[AnxiousButHopeful]

I also haven't heard anything since the EL notice. Has anyone? Going by the timeline of last year's posts some of us should have gotten a referral and request to submit a personal statement by now, right?

 

[LadyLexus1]

I haven't heard anything either since the EL notice. But the timeline is different this year since associates are starting later. Last year they started in July and this year in October. So we should most likely hear in the next two weeks.

 

[publichealthowl]

They are doing interviews this week and next week for other fellowships, so that might also be a reason why they are taking longer to decide. I know the last day of interviews for the applied epi fellowship is tuesday because thats when my interview is. Hopefully by the end of next week they will have more free time to review the PHAP applications.

 

[AnxiousButHopeful]

They are doing interviews this week and next week for other fellowships, so that might also be a reason why they are taking longer to decide. I know the last day of interviews for the applied epi fellowship is tuesday because thats when my interview is. Hopefully by the end of next week they will have more free time to review the PHAP applications.

Good luck, today!

 

[missm472]

That's what I gathered from reading posts from previous years. I'm not sure what the minimum qualifications are as far as experience goes. The fellowship is for entry-level public health professionals with little to no experience but it seems that the more experience you have, the more likely you are to be selected which seems backwards. So you're a vet to this whole process, do you have any advice or tips that you would like to share with us going in that hasn't been mentioned already in previous threads? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

As far as eligibility scoring, I got a 98 - I believe. The interview basically assessed your passion and goals in public health. Know your short and long term goals in the field of public health. Remember, this is a fellowship position, so you are going to be learning and training to be a public health professional - don't present yourself as if you are an expert, but present yourself as if you are an entry-level, passionate public health professional who is open to learning and growing from this experience. They give you scenario questions. I remember one question asked about organizational hierarchy (i.e. if your boss at your placement site told you this, but CDC told you this..could you still do that). They want to know that you have initiative, you are creative, you know how to follow directions, you will represent CDC in the best way, you have strong short and long term goals, and you are dedicated to working in and enhancing the field of public health.